Visual Scaffolding as a Strategy for Teaching English Language Learners

Observation and Reflection of Visual Scaffolding

as a Strategy for Teaching English Language Learners

Visual scaffolding is a strategy for teaching English language learners (ELLs) that utilizes drawings, photographs and other visuals in order to help students to better understand the language used in each lesson (Herrell, 26). This strategy encourages active involvement from all students in each lesson. Using methods and resources that add context to the language that a student is learning, such as props, gestures and pictures, contributes to that child’s language acquisition and ultimately to the production of new language (2). Diaz-Rico and Weed (220), and Ovando, Collier, and Combs (2003), believe that teachers who constantly use scaffolding strategies, including visuals and graphics, to assist English learners in multiple areas of learning, are supporting their students in making significant achievements in comprehension of both academic English and curriculum content (7).

When teaching English language learners, each classroom activity needs to be structured so that the students are able to participate in the lesson at a level that they are comfortable (2). Visuals go way beyond the basic photograph, visuals used in scaffolding may include images found on the internet, personal photographs taken by either the teacher, a parent or a student, illustrations in books, children’s artwork, homemade videos, commercials and even class-made videos. A variety of visuals used ensures multiple connections to vocabulary words and concepts. Incorporating familiar visuals in lessons, such as family pictures, videos or cultural objects can put students at ease and make individual students feel much more comfortable participating in lessons.

This strategy can be used at all levels, but is especially appropriate at the lower levels, in elementary and middle schools. If I were to teach a group of English language learners, in an elementary school setting, I anticipate doing many things. First, I would label almost everything in my classroom that is a visual representation of a vocabulary word. For example, I would put a label on the door saying “door” for English learners. Without even trying, when I student looks to the door and sees the word “door” they will be furthering the connection in their brain between the object and the name of the object in English. Labels can be made for almost everything in the classroom, including windows, chalkboards, desks, lights etc. I have seen this method used in almost every one of my Spanish classes, from middle school to high school. In my own experience, I found the method to be extremely useful when trying to learn and make connections to vocabulary words.

While many types of visuals, such as videos, cannot necessarily be stored by students as a reference, many can be, such as drawings and photographs. Graphic organizers that incorporate visuals are great, especially at the lower levels, because they present the information in an organized fashion that can be made readily available to each student as a reference that can be used at any time. These organizers would be implemented in my classroom and would be kept by each student in a binder so that they could be used as a reference when learning new vocabulary words and reviewing old vocabulary words.

I also believe that note-cards are a great way to help students learn new information, memorize that information, and make connections using that information. Note-cards that utilize pictures are great for language learners because they enable students to make visual connections to vocabulary words and concepts. These note-cards can be stored, like graphic organizers, for later use. I anticipate using note-cards a lot in my future classroom.

I believe that visual scaffolding may be one of the most useful strategies for teaching English language learners in a formal classroom setting. This strategy can be tailor-made to lessons in any subject, at any grade level. The use of visuals in the classroom helps to further students’ connections to the material and is a great way to encourage student participation in each lesson.

Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2012). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners (4th ed.). Columbus: Pearson.

Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average

Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average

The study Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average, by Jennifer L. Kobrin, Brian F. Patterson, Emily J. Shaw, Krista D. Mattern, and Sandra M. Barbuti, sought to prove whether or not the changes made to the SAT in 2005 substantially changed how well the test predicts first-year college performance (Kobrin, Patterson, Shaq, Mattern, Barbuti, 1). The changes made to the SAT in 2005 include the renaming of the verbal section of the test the critical reading section, analogies were removed and replaced by questions on reading questions, more advanced mathematics questions were added as well as the addition of a writing section (1). The test was lengthened from three hours to three hours and forty-five minutes (1).

The study compared the single and multiple correlations of SAT scores, high school GPA and first year GPA (3). The study found that the SAT and high school GPA are related but measure different parts of achievement (5). The SAT-W was found to have the highest correlation to first year GPA. Overall, the study found that the revisions made to the SAT did not change how it predicts fist year college performance (6). The college board ultimately believes that the best combination of college performance is both SAT scores and high school GPA. They encourage college institutions to take both into consideration when making decisions.

While the The College Board believes that a combination of both the SAT and HSGPA is the best predictor of college success, Geiser and Santelices have a different opinion. In their study Validity if High-School Grades in Predicting Student Success Beyond the Freshman Year: High-School Records vs. Standarized Tests as indicators of Four-Year Outcomes, Saul Geiser and Santelices found that high school grade point average is the best predictor of four-year college success Geiser and Santelices, 1). While The College Board only focused on the first year of college, this study expands the scope to the whole college experience. As a matter of fact, Geiser and Santelices uncover that the predictive weight of high school GPA increases after the freshman year of college (1). This suggests that there could be a major flaw in the study by Korbin et al. Korbin et al did not consider all of the years of college and therefore may not have an accurate prediction of college success.

I believe that the SAT should be used in part by college admissions boards; I do not however, believe it is the only measure that should be considered. I think that the SAT is a good way to see each student’s English and math abilities, however, it does not show other subject that each student excels in, nor does it show what a hard worker a student is. In this way, I think that high school GPA and recommendation letters are a good way to even the playing field. I think that motivation and effort have a lot to do with each student’s first year grade point average. The good thing about standardized tests is that they are the same across the board, while high schools differ in levels of difficulty

When I was in high school, there was a boy in my classes who was incredibly smart. If my memory serves me correctly he scored around a 2,200 on the revised SAT. This boy, however, never did any homework and was often off-task in class. For this reason, he did not get into the amazing colleges we all thought he would. His high school grade point average told a very different story than his SAT scores. I do not believe that pure intelligence is enough; you need to have a balance of smarts and motivation to be successful in a college environment, and in life in general.

Geiser, S., & Santelices, M. (2007). Validity of High-School Grades in PredictingStudent Success Beyond The Freshman Year. Research & Occasional Paper Series, CSHE.6.07, 1-35.

Kobrin, J., Patterson, B., Shaw, E., Mattern, K., & Barbuti, S. (2008). Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average. College Board Research Report, No. 2008-5, 1-11.